from YOU by Chantal Neveu trans. Erín Moure
first his breathing then his pupils
I watch his mouth
its furrows its swells
slight circle of his irises
the black hole a tube
he sees me
impulsion
an implicit programmatics
ascension
the facades the borough
remanence of Rio
a yard a garden
the staircase
winding
its gradations
compelling
the maples
alongside
the false acacias
figuration of caresses
swirled rumour of a fountain
faint sound
metallic taste of the city
a magnetism
from palate to nostrils
infra-resonance
warm silver
low table
the flakes of fish
air under the studio ceiling
a loge
we make acquaintance
summer solstice alters the sky
we deflect curiosity by foreseeing questions
private
spheres
spontaneous revelation
the ineffable
freshness of a stream
are we already naked
bared
we expose ourselves
fluidity
gravity
propensity
the charm
the intimacy
premise of a banquet
Hephaistos
Aristophanes
vestiges dionysiae vertiges
Empedocles
happiness
tenor of futures put to the test
at ease
we name
great loves
inflections
decades
les fidélités
promises made
offenses injuries miracles
the enduring friendships
gaie santé
current genealogy
virtual group portrait
numerous
already
he stands up
draughts
the bamboo imbibe their fill of rainwater
transfer of delectation
euphoria
temptation reparation
congruency
catalysis
paradoxical privilege
incursion
permissiveness
we draw close
to kiss
convergence
Erín Moure is a poet and poetry translator. Most recently: Chus Pato’s The Face of the Quartzes (Veliz Books, 2021) from Galician, and Chantal Neveu’s This Radiant Life (which won the 2021 Governor General’s Award for translation from French and the Nelson Ball Prize). A new book of poetry, Theophylline: A Poetic Migration via the modernisms of Rukeyser, Bishop, Grimké, has just been published by House of Anansi. https://erinmoure.mystrikingly.com Photo Credit: E. Sampedrin
